Sunday, October 9, 2016

World Premiere of queer monster story unleashed on Kensington in October!

Tire Swing by Curtis te Brinke

World Premiere of queer monster story unleashed on Kensington in October!

Kevin has gone missing. Three children are left to grow up in the spaces he left behind as a strange shadow consumes their town. Tire Swing is a queer science fiction horror story about the things we leave behind, and the things that go bump in the night.

Set in an intimate transformed space in Kensington Market, Tire Swing plunges audiences into a new kind of coming of age story about a monster, a missing boy, and a mystery bigger than the town in the middle of it.

Tire Swing is led by a queer team of artists. Written by Curtis te Brinke (Strangeness and Breath, BINGE) and directed by Sadie Epstein-Fine (Brantwood, Eraser, Freda and Jem's Best of the Week). It features Dora nominee, Francois Macdonald (Zinspires de Puissance, Our Town), Patrick Fowler (Antigone), Jocelyn Adema (Molly Bloom, You Know I Know) and Nikki Haggart (Being Human, Fatal Vows).

Tire Swing is the fifth play produced as a part of Filament Incubators 2016 season, including its sister show Swan, dark coming of age fable,Paradise Comics and recent Toronto Fringe Festival hit Rowing. Featuring dramaturgical work by Cole Vincent and Andrea Romaldi, this fall join Epigraph Collective and Filament Incubator as they unleash a monster on Kensington Market.

Curtis te Brinke is a playwright, director and producer. He is the
Artistic Director of Epigraph Collective, a theatre company creating
bold new works from millenial voices. Curtis recently directed and
produced their Toronto Fringe debut BINGE by Joel Edmiston, as well
as his own script Pogo for the 2016 playGround Festival. Curtis was a playwright in residence for the 2016 Paprika Festival. He produced
Love Me Forever Billy H Tender by Jesse LaVercombe for Videofag’s storefront season as well as Hillary Rexe’s This is the August for
the 2016 Summerworks Festival.

DB How is the use of a non-traditional theatre space in the Kensington Market area affect the staging, acting, design, etc.?

CTB Using a nontraditional space in this sense has allowed us to create an immersive experience. We've transformed the hall into the world of the play, creating a dark and viseral viewing experience. Our designer Jason Thompson has found a way to bring a forest into the middle of the city, and to bring TIre Swing's surreal sci fi to life in front of the audience. This isn't going to be like anything you've seen in a black box before, the audience is really in for a strange and intimate ride.

DB Do any of the characters and/or general narrative plot points have specific 'messages' or takes on being queer in contemporary culture? For example, does being queer in a science fiction/thriller narrative environment shed light on any contemporary issues around being queer (e.g. - relationships, queer marriage, etc.)?

CTB The queerness of the play acts as an extension of one of the anchors of the script, which is the duality of discovery and loss. Being queer is still a dangerous thing. As far as we've come, things like the Pulse massacre are reminders that our mere existence is still revolutionary, we're still consciously trying to take up our own spaces. We still stand to deal with violence just by living our lives. So who better than queer people to explore fear and loss? If anyone gets to tell stories about living under the shadow of a violent monster, it's a team of women and queer people.____________________________________

Nikki Haggart

Actor: Ellen

Nikki Haggart is a Montreal born actor who has recently relocated to
Toronto. She is a 2013 graduate of John Abbott’s Professional Theatre
Program, where she was the recipient of the Karla Napier Award and
the Jason Panich Memorial Scholarship. Her favourite theatre roles
include Cheddar in ‘In Memoriam: The Wake of Cheddar Fandango’
(Sermo Scomber Theatre/Montreal Fringe), Plug in ‘Captain Aurora: A Superhero Musical’ (Kaleidoscope Theatre/Centaur Theatre), Thea in ‘Spring Awakening’ (Persephone Theatre/Centaur Theatre),
Myfanwy Price/Mrs Beynon in ‘Under Milk Wood’ (John Abbott Theatre/
Edinburgh Fringe) and Friar Lawrence in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (John
Abbott Theatre). She has also been seen on Syfy’s ‘Being Human,’
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Fatal Vows,’ Teletoon’s ‘Cartoon Gene’ and in
Black Box Production’s ‘Misogyny/Misandry.’

DB How is the use of a non-traditional theatre space in the Kensington Market area affect the staging, acting, design, etc.?

NH I think starting with a non-traditional venue has given the creative team, and in turn the performers, the chance to really examine a lot of theatrical conventions. What is necessary? What is useful? And what can be thrown out completely? I am personally really excited, and a bit nervous, to play around with some of the ingenious design elements that are being incorporated and see how it informs my performance.

NH Not to name drop, but this seems pretty relevant: I once got to ask Patrick Stewart at a Comic-Con panel how his approach to projects like 'Othello' or 'Waiting for Godot' differed from projects like 'Star Trek' or 'X-Men.' He said it didn't, because the goal was the same, to be true to the character and the story. I definitely took that to heart when preparing for this role. It definitely helps that the characters feel very real even just within the text. They're going through these fantastical, horrific things, but they are still these totally relatable teenagers.

DB Do any of the characters and/or general narrative plot points have specific 'messages' or takes on being queer in contemporary culture? For example, does being queer in a science fiction/thriller narrative environment shed light on any contemporary issues around being queer (e.g. - relationships, queer marriage, etc.)?

NH The themes of being alone and being an 'other' are very prevalent in this story and are themes that have appeared in sci fi and horror since the very beginning (Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' springs to mind.) Including the experiences of queer characters in a small town certainly brings a very real, very topical element to this theme that I think most audiences will appreciate.

DB Do any of the characters and/or general narrative plot points have specific 'messages' or takes on being queer in contemporary culture? For example, does being queer in a science fiction/thriller narrative environment shed light on any contemporary issues around being queer (e.g. - relationships, queer marriage, etc.)?

NH The queer characters' journeys are definitely going to resonate with a lot of people, especially those in the queer community who come from smaller, conservative towns. However, one of the things that feels very real to me about the story is that by the end of it, the characters don't have everything figured out, either as soon-to-be adults or as monster hunters. I don't think we are making specific statements as much as we are asking questions; about how we treat each other, about how our past informs our future, etc.